About Kris Blucher
So, you made it to my page. But what exactly is this blog? My blog is my visual diary. I love taking photos, but if you never post/print your work, you are never actually finished. I like sharing my images. Sometimes, I even share a photo that is actually good. This is my story: my friends, my family, my life.
I have been sitting on this image for a while, it’s actually quite comfortable. I shot Elliot a little while ago – and have a heap of images that will go into a collection that I hope to eventually publish. Elliot goes to school with me. He is hard working, intelligent, funny and a damn good friend. He is understanding, caring, witty, empathetic and down-to-Earth. I value our friendship and our bromance.
Thanks for making semester 1 so much fun. 7 more to go!
When I saw that Strobist was going to be running another photography Boot Camp, I knew I had to get involved. I participated in the last one while I was travelling, but did not manage to complete it. I was not very good with lighting, and did not have a bag-o-tricks for when it gets tough. This year though, I’m ready! The brief consisted of shooting someone in your community who is inspirational, valuable and available for a portrait. The photo needed to tell us about the person. The photo had to serve a purpose that was greater than “check out my lighting”.
It didn’t take long for me to email Steve (Jas’ Dad) to ask (very nicely) if he would mind sitting for a photo or two. Steve volunteers a lot in the community, so we had to choose one aspect to depict in the image. He suggested his work with the Rural Fire Brigade, and I instantly knew what I wanted to shoot.
Over the weekend, Jas and I ventured out to his place to throw together some lunch, before heading down to the base to shoot. I met two of the other Brigade members who were playing with one of the trucks, and they didn’t have any issues with us shooting for a little bit. My first test image was made at 3.14pm, and my final image was taken at 3.44pm – we were in and out. I have also decided to make this series part of my Portrait Project – I hope you enjoy the photos and the story.
Steve is a volunteer in the Rural Fire Brigade. He has been for the last 18 years or so (bookkeeping was not a big part of the organisation back then, so he can not recall exactly how long he has served). He has had a number of different positions in the brigade over the years and currently serves as a fire fighter. Previously, he has volunteered his services as 3rd Officer for a couple of years, and 1st Officer (the boss!) for a total of about 5 years.
Steve is the longest serving member of the local brigade, and is in fact one of only three (of 25+) members that live in the brigades local catchment area. He has a wealth of knowledge to offer the newer members, and carries the status of ‘elder statesman’ in the brigade.
(The second image was taken just after I suggested that we should make an annual calendar)
I asked Steve approximately how many fires/rescues he had been called out to over the years – and he initially replied with “You kidding?”. The Rural Brigade is not called into action too often, but you can almost bet Steve will be the first one to the truck, as he has done for the last 18 years. Steve is a great man, a wonderful friend and a huge asset in our community. I hope I have been able to capture some of that in this image.
The Brigade serves a huge purpose in our community, it’s a real shame that some people are so disrespectful and artistically-handicapped and feel the need to throw their hideous ‘tags’ up on the shed.
The challenge for this shoot was to use only battery-powered speedlights. This meant that I could not blast Steve with a heap of light, and control every photon in the image. Therefore, this is how I lit it:
SB80dx camera right ~1/8
SB900 in 28″ apollo camera right ~1/2 (slightly off axis)
Lights triggered with 1 Cybersync + optical slave
EXIF still attached – overcast day required overpowering, so I used a hard/soft combo from camera right to light Steve, and the ambient lit the truck.
I hope you enjoyed this post. If you would like to see some of my recent landscapes, check them out here.
Hey guys. I had the absolute pleasure of photographing our friends little 1-month old baby over the weekend. Meet Kael.
He is the cutest! He was such a cute little model and didn’t even mind laying on his cot alone for a short period for a photo or two. I guess he knew that he’d be getting a lot of cuddles shortly!
While I was there, I thought it would be nice to snap a portrait of Mum and Dad independently. A new little bubba sometimes gets all the attention, and though it’s nice to have photos as a new family, I think it is a good idea to snap a nice portrait of Mum and Dad too.
Here’s another shot of little Kael, getting a big cuddle from Mum. Thanks for being so cute little Kael – see you again soon!
I had to take some pictures last weekend for my Mum and her company, so while I had my lights setup I thought I’d grab a few shots of my brother, Matt.
Matt is an aircon/fridgy with a lot of potential. He has climbed the ranks within his company, and is looking to expand his horizons even further. Personally, I’m trying to push him towards an engineering degree, and he is really interested in this option, but we’ll wait and see what happens.
Even though he doesn’t have an SLR, Matt is starting to develop an interest in photography. I decided to show him two simple lighting setups and how we can achieve different results with light. I love these two images of Matt, I think they show two sides of him that a lot of people will recognise.
Matt was a bit of a bad-ass when we were growing up. He occasionally got into trouble, but never anything too serious. He always stood his ground, and stood up for his friends and family. This is the Matt some people will remember.
Nowadays, Matt is a gentle giant. I still wouldn’t want to piss him off though (haha). Honestly, he is up there with some of the kindest, loving, sharing people I know. He’s more than happy to help others out, to share his stories and expertise, and have a joke when he gets the chance. He is a lot smarter than he lets on, and has the potential to do almost anything. He is now living with his beautiful girlfriend, Em, and their little pup, Oodle.
I hope to catch up with you guys again soon. More photos next time, maybe of the whole family.
Love you bro.